So Let Me Get This Straight:
by onekilobyte
Summary: A confrontation and some consolation. Kurt's edging closer to exhaustion. Sam/Kurt friendship/pre-slash; SPOILERS for 2x04 and 2x05.
1. Chapter 1

"So here's the thing," Sam said, and for a moment, Kurt was stunned.

_Ohmygodohmygod what does this neanderthal want now? _Kurt thought in pseudo-annoyance. He felt a bit awkward, too, standing in-between the jock and the lockers.

Sam seemed to have problems with speech, now. "I kinda. Uh. Okay, look. I tried. I really, really tried."

Kurt let his eyebrows speak for him. _His flustering's quite adorable,_ he thinks, _but what the hell does he want? I don't have time for this._

"Quinn - okay, she's pretty, but I seriously do _not_ know why Finn didn't want me to sing with you!" Sam said, in his awkward Sam-way.

Kurt still held one eyebrow up, confusion mangling his Sam Evans-hatred, and _ohmyfuckinggod, can he just shut up?_ "And you're saying this now, because -"

"I tried to kiss her, okay," Sam admitted. And Kurt's confusion turned into disappointment. Resentment, maybe. _Should've known. They're all the same, anyway, jocks._

Sam continued rambling, "And I don't even know what the hell possessed me to do that! I mean, she was so close, and her _eyes_, and -"

Kurt cut in, "Is there any reason that you're telling me any of this, Evans?"

Sam paid no heed to the question. "It's weird, because I don't normally do that, okay. I normally think before I act, or I think I think, anyway, so this thing is not supposed to happen, and now she doesn't want to be my duet partner, and now I don't know what I gotta do, and -"

"So wait," Kurt said, finger high in the air, "You want to be my duet partner?"

Sam Evans smiled. _Oh god, that smile, _Kurt thought, and Sam did a tiny nod.

"Is that fine with you, Kurt? I mean, you already did your duet-y-thing, and it was amazing, just saying, but I thought that since you offered to be my partner in the first place, maybe -"

Kurt still remembered Finn's threats to him, and just earlier, Sam confirmed that _yes, Finn spoke to him, too._ And it registered, just now.

"Wait a minute," Kurt said, holding a finger up, "Finn told you not to sing with me."

Sam nodded.

"So you were going to say 'no' in the first place - even before I spoke to you in -"

"No! No, wait, you got it all wrong. You said you're gonna 'set me free', whatever the hell that meant, and I was just like, 'what did I do?'"

Kurt tried to put the pieces together. Things just wouldn't fit. "So before I dissolved our partnership, you'd been set to sing with me all along?"

"If I said 'yes', would you sing with me tomorrow?" Sam said, both enthused and pleading, "Because that'd be really awesome."

Kurt smiled. "Okay, fine. But we'll go by my rules, Evans. That means that we'd use my songs."

"No problem," Sam said, sending Kurt a smile. _That smile could light up the world_.

"But I'd really like it," Sam said, "If we can, maybe, make some sort of like, cool acoustic-y cover, 'cause you like showtunes, right? Which isn't bad, but I thought it'd be cool to have, like a different arrangement to show them that that kind of music is all versatile or whatever. Of course, it's up to you if you want to use the idea. Just throwing it out there."

Kurt smiled, and he wondered. While Sam's voice was made for that genre of music, _his_ wasn't. His voice, no matter how amazing he believed it was (and itwas _amazing_), was not made to have acoustic accompaniment. And he vocalized this particular thought.

"But my voice can't fit that," he said, slightly disappointed.

"Then we'll just have to work it out, now, won't we?" Sam said, "And besides, your voice is amazing. I'm pretty sure it fits in _anything_. If you made Gaga work like Rachel said you did, then I'm pretty sure we can make this work. Like I said, we don't have to do it that way. It's just an idea."

Kurt offered him a smile. "Okay, I'll be your duet partner," he said, "When do we start?"

* * *

A/N: I haven't really been writing fiction for the longest time, so expect this to be a little, uh, weird-sounding. It's pretty much dialogue-heavy; I wrote this stream-of-consciousness-y, so it's not all long and winding passages as much as it is just random bursts of conversation that appear in my head as I write. I will come up with something more decent next time, swear! I even got a plot and everything. For now, though, this is all I've got, so. Yes. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**SPOILERS for 2x05: The Rocky Horror Glee Show**.

***A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Please read my author profile regarding updates of this fic.**

_Adding a disclaimer: I do NOT own Glee. Just a fan trying to make fiction out of good material._

* * *

McKinley High was really starting to tire Kurt out. Sure, he found his home in New Directions, but even _that_ was hardly comforting anymore. He would have loved to do an adaptation of _The Rocky Horror Picture Show_, but he realized (sooner, rather than later) that this whole production was another one of Will Scheuster's charades to win Miss Pillsbury over. Which is really just _weird_.

* * *

When Kurt found out that Sam was cast as Rocky, he cast a quick glance over (and Sam's eyes met his, _just fucking wonderful_). _Damn right he had the body!, _Kurt exclaimed when Sam would brag about how his abs could cut glass. There was something… off about Sam, though. He was a bit too… cocky for the Sam that he knew, the Sam that he worked with for the duets. Well, Kurt and Sam _did_ only bond for a short time (Quinn had wanted to be Sam's partner after all that, anyway), but he liked Sam. He was cute and sweet and dorky, like Finn, but also completely comfortable with Kurt's sexuality. And, to Kurt's surprise, he still kept contact _after_ the whole "Sam-is-**my**-partner" fiasco that happened with Quinn.

Stupid Finn. Stupid Rachel.

* * *

When Mr. Schue asked Kurt to call for Finn and Sam for rehearsals at the auditorium, he knew exactly where to find them. Finn was complaining the previous night on how his "body wasn't good enough", and that he and Sam are "gonna head on over to the gym tomorrow, since there's no football practice".

Kurt went to the gym, only to see Finn heading his way.

"Mr. Schue's calling for you," Kurt said.

"Just tell him that I, uh. I need to do something. I'll be there soon." Finn said hurriedly, clearly preoccupied.

"Where's Sam?" Kurt asked.

"Inside." Finn said, and sped off.

* * *

Upon opening the door to the gym (and Kurt released a sigh of relief, _oh gosh, not a lot of people. Good._), he spotted Sam in front of the mirror.

"Damn those Cool Ranch Doritos," Kurt heard Sam say. And then Sam pinched his stomach area.

Kurt was a little bit worried.

"Hey, Sam?" Kurt said softly.

Sam withdrew his hand and dropped his shirt and quickly faced Kurt. "Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam insisted. But (and this Kurt knew well) Sam had this tendency to shift his eyes when he's _clearly_ not telling the truth.

"You're fine, and I'm straight. No, tell me, what's wrong, Sam?" Kurt insisted.

Sam let out a deep sigh. _Looks like he can't escape this one_.

Kurt sat down in the benches near the mirrors. "Mind if we sit, Sam?"

Sam sat down beside Kurt.

Kurt began, "Just because I'm not the most… muscular or not the most manly person around doesn't mean that I don't get it. I do. Believe me, _I do_."

Sam raised an eyebrow.

"No, listen first. I tried out for the Cheerios last year because I was afraid I wasn't getting enough attention - not getting what I deserved - in Glee club. So Mercedes and I thought that it was great. But Coach Sylvester had a strict diet, and forced us all on the Sue Sylvester Master Cleanse. At that time, all I'd have for breakfast was Splenda and all I had for lunch was peeled celery. Mercedes quit a few days later, said she couldn't take it - and I was angry for her abandoning me, but I respected that. On the other hand, I lived on the Master Cleanse and the Splenda and the celery because I _needed_ to be in Cheerios. That was the only way I validated my existence in this school - besides Glee. It was all about staying with the Cheerios because if not, well, I had no immunity. I'd be slushied or thrown to the dumpster day after day by Karofsky and Azimio, and I'd be ignored in Glee. So don't tell me that I don't get where you're at, because _I do, Sam_."

Sam, now at full attention, asked Kurt, "What made you stop?"

"I just did, one day, when I realized that the vomiting isn't worth it. The acid completely ruined my voice, and it took two weeks for me to get back to top form. It was no wonder Rachel beat me in the _Defying Gravity_ sing-off," Kurt mused.

"Why… are you telling me this?" Sam asked Kurt.

"Because, Sam," Kurt said, "As your friend - _I __**am**__ your friend, right?_ - I'm worried. I'm seeing the signs on you. Soon enough, you'll feel miserable and I'm pretty sure Rachel and Finn will cut you a new one if you won't be gleeful for Glee club."

"But Finn just told me that I needed to hide behind my muscles - whatever that meant. Wasn't sure if he was insulting me or whatever, but -"

"Finn was being Finn, Sam," Kurt said, and smiled a little. "He's always been kind of an idiot, but I'm pretty sure he didn't mean anything bad. But - I have a question,"

"Go shoot," Sam said.

"Do you think what Finn said was true?" Kurt asked, looking straight into Sam's eyes. _I could drown in those eyes forever_.

Sam's brows furrowed, "Which part?"

"Do you feel the need to hide behind your muscles?"

Sam looked up and took a deep sigh (if Kurt had known any better, he'd say that Sam smoked). "Yes, okay? That make you happy?"

Kurt took Sam's hand into his, and hoped that it didn't make Sam feel awkward. _So far, so good_. "Sam. Here's what you have to understand. I don't know what it is that you're hiding from the world, but _whatever it is_, Sam, _you don't need to hide behind your muscles_. You've got football, you've got your voice, you're an awesome, awesome guy -"

"_Except I'm really fucking dumb_," Sam mumbled. Kurt didn't let it slide, though.

"Excuse me? Sam, just because you have a condition doesn't mean you're _stupid_, or you're_ dumb_. And - like I was saying earlier, Sam, you have no reason to hide behind your muscles, because as nice as they are, they're not _you_. I mean, I'm pretty sure that for a lot of people, the first thing they think of when they say Sam is abs, but that's not the point of it. The people who matter - the ones who care - they see you _beyond_ that," _like me, _Kurt noted sadly.

Then reality hit him like a sledgehammer. _He's still with Quinn, what are you doing?_

"I mean, Quinn didn't start dating you because of your muscles. We didn't accept you in Glee club because of your muscles. And your football coach didn't let you become quarterback when Finn was gone because of your muscles."

Sam objected, "wait, I kinda need muscles in football - "

"You have good instinct, _that's _what gave you an in," Kurt said, "Sam, don't define yourself because of your abs - even though they are, as you say, _ab-ulous_. You can let other people label you, but don't. Ever. Label. Yourself." and with that, Kurt finished with a strong note. "I was always known as the 'gay-guy-of-McKinley-High'. But I don't call myself that. I'm Kurt Hummel, _that's it_. You're Sam Evans, _that's it_."

Sam squeezed Kurt's hand. "You're a really good friend, Kurt." And Sam smiled.

Kurt felt his heart speed up, just a little, but it sped up just the same. _I'm going to fall in love with this guy if I don't stop._

But Kurt can't stop.

He _**can't** stop_.

He _had to stop_.

* * *

Right now, _this_ was his reason for staying in McKinley High. Despite the shit he met with the bullying and the lack of attention that he's being given in Glee, he's got friends like Sam and Mercedes and Tina that he needed to be there for. That's what matters for now. It's a thin string that could be cut up _soon_, if Kurt gave up and it all became too much, but he's got reason to stay.

For now, at least.

* * *

A/N: Again, pretty dialogue-heavy. Sorry 'bout that. I put "Complete" when I posted the story because I had no idea where I wanted to take this. Now I have a plot. Update day of this story would always be 1-2 days after the airing of _Glee_ itself, as most of the story is pretty much "missing scenes" or rewrites of several scenes from the show itself. Hardly original, but I'm working on the point-of-view of "what if Kurt and Sam develop a friendship before forging a relationship?". I'm expecting to take off from the show's plot after the next episode. The title's based on Anberlin's **_A Day Late_**, so if you know that song, you're pretty much spoiled for the whole story.

Thanks for the reviews and the alerts! They keep me motivated to go on. :)


End file.
